


The solemn geography of human limits

by blueberry



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Bloodlust, Chapter Related, Character Study, Developing Friendships, During Canon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 07:12:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueberry/pseuds/blueberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was one single time that they could think of when Hibari looked a little hesitant about a fight, <em>maybe</em>: during a summer festival when they were kids, the first time they watched the fireworks together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The solemn geography of human limits

**Author's Note:**

> Written around Hibari's moment of contemplation during Target 58: Summer Festival, [here](http://ex5.unixmanga.net/onlinereading/?image=Hitman%20Reborn/Hitman%20Reborn%20c001-100/Hitman%20Reborn%20c058/reborn07-058-148.png&server=nas.html). It struck me that he seemed to pause slightly when it came to that fight. And I'm a sap, and also wrote this because of how worked up Tsuna got about the fireworks in the Varia Arc. Hibari was around too, he ought to be part of the family bonding!
> 
> The title is a prompt from [31 Days](http://31-days.liveournal.com).

 

Hibari looks around at the crowd. It's delicious indeed, but ... but.  
  
He can assess with reasonable certainty which bones will break first under his strikes and where the first body will fall. The itch in his teeth becomes an ache as some of these first step eagerly into closer range, grinning widely enough that he can venture educated guesses at who will fall and bite through his own tongue and bleed out before ever getting bitten dead.  
  
But then there are the others. They're coming close and cracking their knuckles too, and there are too many behind the first wave to decently assess how he should fight ... too many to deal with easily ... too many.  
  
For the briefest instant, Hibari wonders if it would be better to let the fight and the money go. His gaze flicks to the shrine on the hill, and it nags at him what might become of Namimori without his supervision.  
  
It's been a long time since a thought like that had come up in him, and he scowls. If this pack of weaklings can tear him apart, obviously he wouldn't deserve his place as Namimori's guardian.  
  
He can see where the first of his opponents will be dropped, and where he ought to avoid stepping to keep his footing. He can see that eventually the bodies will not leave enough space - especially if Sawada finds his strength anytime soon and begins hurling people about with no strategy to it - and Hibari eyes the ground where he might fall.  
  
He might. He might not. It's difficult to predict people in a fight, even for someone like him, whether they're opponents or someone like the odd boy shivering and facing the crowd to his back. Before Hibari might or _might not_ break, he has a wealth of entertainment closing in to meet him with all its anticipation and weapons, and a cash box prize at the end of it. He tightens his grip on his tonfa and feels his lips pull back from his teeth as he meets the eyes of the first one who is going to fall, and he smiles.

* * *

Hibari is taking care of his wounds by the time the fireworks start. Since the worst of his scrapes are treated, he puts the bandages and salve back in his pockets and lies down on the roof of the shrine, pressing his palms to the tiles for the warmth they'd absorbed during the day. It's traditional to watch the fireworks.  
  
He is at ease, and finds it peculiar. He'd been forced to share his fight with not only Sawada Tsunayoshi, but the addition of Sawada's pack. Afterwards the baseball player had approached him with an outstretched hand, and Hibari strongly suspects he'd wanted to clap him on the back. The thought makes the hair on the back of his neck rise.  
  
Hibari turns his attention to the grounding throb in his jaw where Sawada's last punch had landed, flinging him backwards. He doesn't mind much that he'd conceded defeat by walking away, letting the pack collapse behind him in relief and exhaustion. The loss is acceptable, considering the fight against that crowd just beforehand; neither of them were up to a proper match at the moment. And when he'd turned to leave, Sawada's group had not called to him, and he hadn't felt any attention on him. They had not continued to try and claim him. He had walked away with more dignity than he'd thought they had the sense to allow. Even though they are in sight now, down the slope of the hill - and a prickle in his perception says that one or two of them have glanced at him in sensible wariness, on looking in his direction when fireworks lit the sky behind him - it is not too close, and the reason for their presence has nothing to do with disrupting him and is entirely acceptable.  
  
The quick flowers of the fireworks bloom brilliantly and fall, leaving a few stars to uphold their brightness before they come again. The sight confirms for Hibari that traditions are kept because of the satisfaction they give, and he watches until the last sparks disappear between heaven and earth.


End file.
